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tallulah23
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So my special blessing is not exactly as extreme as perhaps it should be to post here, but I'm hopeful that maybe someone who has a child with food allergies (more than 5 or just a few) will understand.
My dd (now almost 3)had pretty severe health problems that eventually kept her muscles from developing due to lack of nutrition. She walked late (b/c of this) but now is relatively on track developmentally. She gets severe reactions if she's overexposed to allergens and even can have a fever and flu symptoms after a playdate if a friend gives her something she can't have.
Her first birthday was sort of a miserable day for me since it was before we knew what was wrong and she was very thin and ill at the time. She was given a "healthy cupcake" basically a bran muffin that she was extremely allergic to (I didn't know yet) and she vomited immediately after eating it. 
I don't know. Maybe I'm sharing this b/c I need to heal from it.
My son turned one today. It was so healing to have such a happy day with something so simple as birthday cake. I've never been so happy to see a child eat sugar and not get sick. 
BUT, He's not gaining any weight at this time and I'm worried that tomorrow's appointment will show something wrong like with my dd. I know it is completely unlikely, but this fear keeps popping up.
Anyway...not sure any of this made sense, but I needed to type it. Thanks
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Evie, SAHM to dd 3.5 & ds 2
http://teamday.blogspot.com/
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dawn2006
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| Posted: Dec 02 2008 at 11:20pm | IP Logged
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((hugs))
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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Angi
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| Posted: Dec 03 2008 at 5:43am | IP Logged
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3 of my 4 girls, and myself, all have life threatening food allergies. What is your little one allergic to? Are you still trying to determine what to feed her?
I have been dealing with this for 5 years, and would love to offer some help if you needing some, and of course prayers.
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4 lads mom
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Hi Evie!
I have three kids with severe food allergies.....I also am on my second kiddo with a trach and g-tube....and I can honestly say that food allergies are just as upsetting and trying at times as having a child with "special needs" that are very visible...and equally draining!! I can empathize greatly with you!!!
Have they tested your kids for celiac disease? I hope they have, given their symptoms!!
Mine are allergic to milk, one is so bad that if you touch him after eating milk of any kind, even a few hours before....he is breaking out in hives, face swells...he has had to go on steroids after touching a library book that was contaminated with milk. Peanuts are another biggie with him and one of his brothers. Milk is a third child's allergy, although not as bad as older brother's......One of my kids was allergic to pork, chix, turkey, as well as sunflower seeds, and peanuts. He outgrew the pork and poultry (that has been such a great thing!!!), but failed his peanut challenge a few months ago. He is 14.....doubt if peanuts are ever going to be in his picture.
Do you feel good about the team of docs you have, pediatrician, allergist, etc? That is crucial in dealing with any child with special needs. Do they have your kids on any special forumula or supplement to increase their weight?
There are several diseases that look like food allergies, like celiac, and also enzyme deficiences, that require a good doc on board to sort through....
I have had the same birthday for my 7 yo ds....he had a trach at his first birthday, couldn't swallow well, and choked on a bitty piece of icing off of his cake....I cried, and was so traumatized by that!!! His first birthday, for Pete's sake, couldn't the kid eat some cake?!?!?!? Now, my daughter has the same syndrome, had pneumonia on her first birthday, hasn't eaten at all by mouth...BUT, seeing my ds woof down HER cake, and chix nuggets, and anything else....I know there is hope!!! I wasn't quite as depressed.
Okay....now that I've rambled far to long....know there is HOPE....come here whenever you need to......and I'll be praying for wisdom for all docs that look at your sweet babes, and can get to the bottom of all of this!!
Peace!!
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Mom of four brave lads and one sweet lassie
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MarilynW
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Dear Evie - three of my children had life threatening food allergies several years ago. My dd in particular was severely allergic to about 10 things. I did not know she had allergies - and I gave her cod liver oil to try and boost her immunity - she nearly died as fish is her most severe allergy! Life was very tough a few years ago - planning meals, dealing with family holiday meals (where many do not realize how serious allergies are), not being able to celebrate with food. One positive is that it made us rethink our whole living and eating lifestyle and turned us in a healthier living direction. I have no time right now but I can write back later with the names of some books which helped. My kids did very well with certain supplements.
My boys are doing very well now. Unfortunately for my dd - after about 5 years of doing well, her allergies have resurfaced.
I had food allergies as a child which resurfaced this year. I was told I could only eat rice and zucchini. I ended up going through allergy densitization/elimination - long, painful and expensive - but I am doing much better. I plan of writing about it - just not ready yet. I am planning on taking my daughter in the New Year - though she is not overkeen as it is a long process.
I will pray for you. I know how hard life was a few years ago. It was so hard for me was to see my dd at a party when she was 5 looking longingly at the cake that she could not have - but instead had to have the homemade rice crispy treat.
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Marilyn
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dawn2006
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planning meals, dealing with family holiday meals (where many do not realize how serious allergies are), not being able to celebrate with food.
Just wanted to let you know I deal with this, too, and it IS hard. My son does not have allergies but he is on a low carb diet that controls his seizures (he has epilepsy). He gets 15 carbs a day. ((HUGS)) It's just hard, huh?
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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lilac hill
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My neice is severely allergic and my sister has found the Food Allergy Network (FAN) a helpful resource.
Honestly, you cannot beat yourself up about allergies you didn't know about. With DN-it issuch a difficult case my sister struggles with guilt alot.
Good luck with the next set of tests.
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Viv
Wife to Rick (7/83), Mom to dd#1(6/87), dd#2(1/90), and dd#3(6/94) in central PA.
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JennGM
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My older son has severe food allergies to several foods. The list is smaller now (eggs, wheat, and dairy), but it's still difficult and a different life than others. He had lots of problems until he was diagnosed at age 1. We felt terrible that he had things so hard before the dx. He's 5 now. His younger brother has severe allergy to "just" egg. I'm grateful that it's only one item, but it still requires the preparedness, the epipens, label reading, question asking type of life for him, too.
It is hard. The first part of getting that diagnosis is going through the stages of grief, and I've gone through them all, some repeatedly, at different stages: Denial,
Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance ...
I let him have a wheat flour birthday cake for his first birthday, to find out soon after that wheat is his highest allergen. At his second birthday I cried and cried because it was the most awful tasting, ugliest looking cake and he was joyful. I made all the party food safe for him. I just had bittersweet weeping later. We've had the ER visit for anaphylactic reaction (thank God only one), and lots of monitoring when it wasn't that severe, but still a reaction.
I still get the weepies. He has such joy but is having more disappointments as he gets older. But he also understands the risks and why we do this, and is such a trooper. Mommy is not.
I spent a lot of time at Kids with Food Allergies (at the time POFAK, a yahoo group, totally worth a year's membership at the beginning) and FAAN, lots of library books and training myself. I had to retreat a bit from the world until I could face it again in the small increments that my son could handle. I felt like everything was the enemy: public places, restaurants, grocery stores, parties, family gatherings, playdates -- no where would we be safe. Cookbooks and cooking shows were offlimits, too, because we couldn't eat the stuff! You will always be explaining to people, or having people not believe or understand. How many times I've had to explain:
severe allergies are not the same as food sensitivities,
no spelt is not a substitute for wheat because it IS wheat,
raw milk or goat's milk will still cause reactions,
flour is made from wheat,
just because the food isn't "touching" while cooking, using wheat or dairy products is going to cause a reaction.
And so on...
I remember reading this excellent article about parents of kids with severe food allergies and their stress levels. I wish I could find it again...it was really good. It takes a long time to find a balance in our lives where we're not careless or complacent, on our guards 24/7, but not stressing out. Sometimes it's harder than other times.
I'm a little weepy right now, too. This time of year is so hard. I've learned that I can't really bake with wheat flour when he's around, as it gets in the air and he gets sick. So I have learned to cut corners, like this year I baked pies, but the "floury" part of making the pie crusts, well, I bought frozen crusts already made (to dh's horror). And making speculaas cookies for St. Nicholas is the complete and total highlight of the year for me.
I can't bake them with him around. It's just too much flour in the mixing and cutting and rolling. I am sad to miss my favorite tradition, but I'm even sadder that I can't share that joy with him.
And it's really hard to have him help in the kitchen. If we're doing "safe" foods for baking, they don't roll or cut or "do" the same things as regular baked goods. There's frustration on both sides.
Anyway, I'm long winded in saying that I know a little of the feelings you are going through. Big hugs and lots of prayers for you.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
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4 lads mom
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Oh Jenn...I am crying just reading your post!! Gosh, it is HARD!!! We have to be so careful, we don't eat out, period, other than an occasional hamburger at only one fast food place, because they grill...it works as long as they change their gloves....otherwise, no restaurants, just sitting on a chair that someone dumped a bitty piece of cheese, milk, etc, and it is a potential ER trip....which we have had many. One time, my little ds played catch with a dog at an uncle's....and another cousin joined in....didn't wash her hands after having tacos....and my ds had to leave, was close to needing EPI, just from touching the ball after this girl touched it.
I tell my little guy that he has to be a good cook before he leaves our house!! He is such the life of the party, I know he'll end up hosting a lot of stuff over at his house, (I hope!!), that his apartment will be a hang out instead of a bar or something....because he can't go to public food places very easily. I felt a real sense of peace about that after I felt God was telling me that the reason this particular child has such bad food allergies, is because it will prevent him from being somewhere he shouldn't be.....so I know it is all good in the end.....just stressful walking along the path!!
I am with Jenn....I am complemented on my cooking a lot, and I know I wouldn't have become a good cook had it not been for all of my boys' allergies....it would have been a lot easier to just slap stuff together, using boxed stuff etc.....we eat really, really well, and in the end, that is NOT a bad thing at all!!! So, I give thanks for that!!
WOW....tough subject, I forget all of those emotions when I am knee deep in other areas...but it is there, just not overwhelming every minute, just like what Jenn said.
Please don't hesitate to ask more questions, Evie, and give us updates!!!!
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Mom of four brave lads and one sweet lassie
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anitamarie
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This brought back memories for me. My oldest ds was born with severe allergies to milk, eggs and nuts. All of which I found out about through nursing him. At 9 months, the allergies were confirmed. He did outgrow the milk and egg allergies by age 3 1/2. He is still severely allergic to nuts. The best cookbook I found during that time was "The My Kids Allergic to Everything Dessert Cookbook". I don't have the authors' names because I gave it to a friend when her daughter was diagnosed. I think 1 was Nachsin. Anyway, it saved me, especially where baked goods were concerned. The substition list was invaluable. Also, my dd weighed 20 lbs at 6 months, bless her little buddha belly, and then only gained 3 lbs over the next 18 months. She's gained more normally since then, but inherited the "petite" genes from the extended family. So don't worry, it's probably nothing. Good luck to you.
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tallulah23
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Thanks everyone for all your replies! 
It's nice to know I'm not alone! It feels that way sometimes
My little guy's apppointment went well  no problems he is in a low percentile for weight but his overall health is good and he is getting great muscle tone so she didn't seem too worried. She suggested I drizzle his food with olive oil. He doesn't react to any major allergens. I've tried them...wheat, dairy, eggs...peanuts are the only one I'm avoiding like crazy...in case. He gets sunbutter too 
My dd is allergic to eggs, wheat, dairy, peanuts, almonds, rye, barley, oats, sesame seeds, coconut, and peas. She is not deathly allergic but severely so...if she touches any residue of any of the above she gets a skin rash. If she touches it and touches her face she gets hives around her face and gets a runny nose, cough...wheezing. If she ingests it she can run a fever, wheeze and cough for a while. If she ingests a lot (this only happened once) she gets flu like symptoms and can barely breathe due to the congestion and runny nose. She also becomes lethargic. I guess since she was never deathly allergic I didn't worry too much about minor exposures, but now it is affecting her daily well being and making play dates rough.
Also with my son being able to eat some things she can't have I'm wondering if I'm exposing her via him. I try hard to wipe him well and clean the floor and surrounding areas after each meal. Perhaps I should just go back to feeding them the same stuff??? It's hard. I like being able to give stuff I never could share with her, but I don't want to risk it affecting her either.
Thanks to everyone for sharing your stories!
I have a great cookbook "Cooking Free" but have little funds to buy all the ingredients from the health food store now 40 minutes away. I make do, but feel bad that I haven't gotten more creative. She's a picky eater and I often go out of my way to maker her something she can eat and then she HATES it. SIGH. So I'm definitely open to suggestions. It's hard b/c a lot of stuff uses coconut oil and she can't have that...I've found this to be the most annoying allergy b/c EVEN the allergen friendly stuff sometimes has pea starch or coconut oil. ACK.
Anyhow...enough rambling on. Thanks. I really needed it.
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Evie, SAHM to dd 3.5 & ds 2
http://teamday.blogspot.com/
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dawn2006
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She's a picky eater and I often go out of my way to maker her something she can eat and then she HATES it
Our solution to that here is just to serve the same things over and over. It took me a while to come to that but it works and in the end it probably ends up that way anyway, despite best efforts. LOL!
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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tallulah23
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That's pretty much what I do 
I have started trying again...ever since we moved into our house it's been easier to cook (we had an ucky bug problem at our apartment that made me NEVER want to be in the kitchen). I made her special potatoes for Thanksgiving and she did like them then. Later on for leftovers she lost interest... 
I also made (for Thanksgiving)rice crispie treats using soy butter, and this organic rice/corn cereal I found at Super target...I think they were like healthy cocoa krispies. She hated it the first time she tasted it, but then (after calling them her "special cookies" for a while) she tried again and liked them. My son liked them too which made it all well worth it...and it 's great b/c we can make them together when she's a little older!
I'm getting more daring. I figure if I don't try she won't have a chance to taste it at all. BUT I do mostly feed her the same stuff again and again. I'm pretty guilty of feeding her chicken hot dogs, sunbutter, and turkey more than anything else. Mostly b/c she doesn't want the chicken I cook for dinner. And usually I throw away any special meat I cook for her since she picks at it and chooses her corn and rice cake instead.
I used to try healthy smoothies, but I ended up drinking them and she ended up smearing them on the table 
I may try again to get my son to gain a little weight. Maybe he's getting lots of food, but not enough of the RIGHT foods or something.
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Evie, SAHM to dd 3.5 & ds 2
http://teamday.blogspot.com/
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mathmama
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Just wanted to chime in with hugs. My youngest dd has many food allergies (peanut, wheat, dairy, egg, banana, avocado and maybe more we don't yet know about). We are blessed in that she refuses to eat things that she is allergic to. So, if she refuses something new I am very cautious with it in the future. Otherwise she is a good eater, but we have to be so careful. She has never had a reaction more severe than hives and discomfort, but we do carry an epipen. She has even broken out in hives while running around our local dairy store. Getting fat into her diet is a challenge, but I use sunbutter and olive oil alot in that capacity. Does anyone else have any suggestions for low allergenic fats?? I relied on avocado so much with our first dd. I try to keep her from soy as well because her blood work came back with a low/moderate number. Oh, and for "milk" we give her hemp milk! It is a great alternative to soy, imo, and hemp seed comes from the same family as sunflower seeds, so I felt comfortable trying her with it. I was thrilled when she was ok with it. Does anyone else feel a small victory when they introduce a new food with no reaction?? I was recently on a high because she can eat blueberries!
Good luck to all of those dealing with allergies!!
Beth
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JennGM
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bumping up this thread, to let you know that the KFA (Kids with Food Allergies Network, also known as Parents of Food Allergic Kids (POFAK ™) Support Forums are now free.
It's nice for those looking for support especially at the beginning to have a place for ideas and support. This was a lifesaver for me at the beginning, although at the time they were just a Yahoo group.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: Food allergies...anyone else?
